Badminton Duo Satwik-Chirag Conferred With Khel Ratna Award; Mohammed Shami Receives Arjuna Award

India's best-performing athletes were on Tuesday conferred with the national sports awards by President Droupadi Murmu in a regal ceremony where shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy along with cricketer Mohammed Shami walked in to rapturous applause at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.  Chirag and Satwik were presented the coveted Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for a breakout 2023, during which they won their maiden Asian Games gold -- a first for India in badminton --, while also clinching the Asian Championships title and the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title.

The awards ceremony, usually held on August 29 to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, was deferred because of the Hangzhou Asian Games from September 23 till October 8 last year.

An atmosphere of gaiety pervaded the Rashtrapati Bhawan as 26 athletes and para-athletes were conferred the Arjuna Awards.

Chirag and Satwik, who became world No.1 last year, would be aiming for an Olympic medal in Paris, having all but sealed qualification for the global showpiece later this year by virtue of being world No.2.

"Yes that is our next goal (to win an Olympic medal). We hope to do the country proud again," said Chirag.

Also receiving a huge round of applause was the newly-crowned chess Grandmaster R. Vaishali, the elder sister of precocious chess talent R. Praggnanandhaa.

Vaishali was honoured for becoming the third woman from the country after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika to turn GM.

Pistol shooting sensation, 19-year-old Esha Singh, was among the notable absentees as she is competing in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta.

On Monday, she qualified for the Paris Olympics after winning the individual and team gold in 10m